Obit – Mrs. Dixie Hackett Harper
Mrs. Dixie Hackett Harper, a homemaker of Lebanon and longtime Carthage resident, died peacefully at 12:38 a.m. Sunday morning July 7, 2024 at her Hickory Ridge home in Lebanon. She was 82 and was under the care of Adoration Hospice of Madison.
Mrs. Harper was at the Carthage Chapel of Sanderson Funeral Home and as per her wishes to her family to be cremated and there will no public service. The cremation was performed at the Cumberland Family Services in Algood. The family will have an intimate gathering to celebrate her life at a later date. Her husband and grandson are buried in the Garden of Inspiration at the Smith County Memorial Gardens.
She was born Dixie Lee Hackett in Carthage on August 15, 1941 and was the daughter of the late Jewel Hackett who died September 2, 1962 at the age of 59 and Mildred Hiett Hackett who died November 29, 2022 at the age of 89.
She was also recently preceded in death by her son-in-law, David Martin who died in Leesburg, Virginia at the age of 61 on June 12, 2024 and by her only sibling, a brother, James Arthur “Root” Hackett who died October 31, 2008 at the age of 62.
Mrs. Harper was a member of the 1959 graduating class at Smith County High School and where she majored in foreign languages. She was a member of the Latin and Spanish Clubs, She was a member of the Smith County High School Marching Band her final three years of high school and participated in the Spring Festival and was a member of the Beta Club her final two years of high school.
It was stated of her in the ‘59 “Owl” annual; “A lovely lady, garmented in light from her own beauty.”
Following graduation she was united in marriage at the age of 17 at the North Carthage Baptist Church in Carthage by then pastor, the late Eld. R.D. Brooks, to Gordonsville native Bobby Dorman Harper. He preceded her in death at the age of 83 on December 10, 2020 following over sixty one years of marriage.
In happier years, her family celebrated their fifty year anniversary by taking the family on a cruise.
The Harpers were preceded in death by a grandson, Derek Anthony Harper who died at the age of 28 on October 17, 2012 while awaiting a heart transplant.
She attended the North Carthage Baptist Church.
Mrs. Harper was retried from Robertshaw Industries in Carthage.
Before moving to Lebanon thirty seven years ago, her family resided on Main Street in Carthage where they reared their children and the home was relocated to the Tanglewood Community for the construction of the Cumberland Bank, now the site of the Attorney’s General’s office.
Her family could not have asked for a better matriarch. She provided true love and nurturing to those around her, always happy to offer a helping hand. Dixie was beloved for her kind nature and passion for her family and friends.
She will be deeply missed, and the family and friends precious memories of her life will live, “forever in our hearts”.
Dixie was an amazing mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.
She is survived by her two children, Anthony Harper of Lebanon, Sherry Harper Martin of Leesburg, Virginia; two grandchildren, Marissa Martin,Trista Serafin and husband Joe, three great-grandchildren, Cameron, Bella, and Paxton Serafin.
SANDERSON of CARTHAGE
